Title: Moon Phase Experiment Grade Level: 8th Grade General Science Lesson Overview:
In this lesson the students will use a flash light and two different size Styrofoam balls to figure why the moon has different phases. They will use their scientific notebooks to keep observations and data. They will write a focus question, hypothesis, observations and data, claims and evidence, and a conclusion using the claims and evidence. They will use the flash light as a light source that stays in the same place they will then move the smaller ball around the bigger ball and observe how the amount of light on the small ball changes. They will then pick a spot on the big ball and see from that spot how much of the lit small ball a person could see if the big ball was the earth and they were standing in that spot. From these two observations they will write their claims and evidence. Learning Outcomes:
Learning Performances:
As a result of this lesson students will be able to:
- Identify the phases of the Moon.
- Analyze the orbit of the moon to comprehend why phases occur.
- Explain why they occur.
They will do this by applying their knowledge of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth and the Earth around the Sun. They will synthesize a model which they will analyze to comprehend the idea of Moon movement and Moon phases. It requires high levels of thinking.
Standards:
ESS2 (7-8) -8 Students demonstrate an understanding of temporal or positional relationships between or among the Earth, sun, and moon by … 8c using a model of the Earth, sun and moon to recreate the phases of the moon.
Students Prior Knowledge:
The students will need a basic idea of the relationship of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. They will need to know how the Earth and Moon rotate. They will also have to have a good idea of the orbits of the planet and it’s satellite.
Establishing Purpose:
The purpose of this lab is for the students to truly understand the reason we have phases of the moon and it helps students to visulize and prove that the planets movement does have a profound effect on things. This is also a good lesson to lead into seasons and the movement of the earth.
Materials Needed:
- Flashlight
- 5 Large Styrofoam Balls about the size of a basketball
- 5 Small Styrofoam Balls about the size of a golf ball
- Scientific Notebook
- Stickers
- Some pictures of the moon to use for reference
Time Required
2 - 50 Minute Period
- 1st Period
5 minutes to write and talk about focus question
10 minutes to write and talk about hypothesis
25 minutes to do experiment and collect observations
10 minutes to write “claims and evidence” and clean up
- 2nd Period
20 minutes going over “claims and evidence” from day before
30 minutes to write conclusions
Instructional Sequence
- Introduction (First day)
To begin this lesson I will ask the students to think about what the moon looks like at night and ask them why it changes. From this they will write a focus question and we will talk about what a good focus question might be for this type of experiment. After this in their groups they will have to come up with a hypothesis for the reason why we have phases of the moon. We will go around the room and share every group’s hypothesis and then I will give every group one large ball, one small ball, a flashlight and a sticker. I will tell that we today that they will have to use they objects I have given them to come up with a model that represents the Moon moving around the Earth. I will also tell them that in their groups they should be discussing the different ways to hold the balls and light to show the different phases. I will emphasize that scientists use the method of trial and error to try and figure out the best explanation for phenomena.
- Instructional Activities (First day)
I will give them a starting off point of using the balls for the planets and the flashlight for the sun but from there out they must figure out how to use these things to find out the reasons for the phases of the moon. I will give them a handout to write down there groups step by step process of how they did it. During this time they will also be given a sheet to paste into their notebooks to record any observations that they find to be interesting. During the experiment I will walk around the room and help to uncover any ideas I think is important that the students may not be getting. I will also pose questions during the experiment that I feel will help to move their work in the right direction. I will ask them if you use the sticker to represent a spot on the earth, what does the moon look like from that spot as its orbits around the earth. During the lesson about orbits I will touch on eclipses and what they are. During this lab the students will have to use this knowledge to figure out the moon’s orbit moves. This will be one place where I may prompt them in a certain direction. I will ask them “Since we know that we don’t have a lunar eclipse every month how does this affect our experiment?” All these questions are questions I will wait to use until the students have had time to try and make these observations on their own. I will only intervene with these if they are struggling to make the connections.
- Conclusion
First Day - To conclude on the first day this experiment we will write “claims and evidence”. This way I can make sure the students have gotten the answers I want them to get and know the students have the information in their notebooks.
Second Day – We will go over the “claims and evidence” we came up with the day before. I will take this second day to make sure they fully understand all the information that we have collected. I will show them a short clip on the phases of the moon and we will discuss further. Along with the discussion of what they found from their experiments we will talk about how they found this. The students will be asked to explain how they held the light and the balls and from what point on the Earth they were looking. After this they will be asked to write a conclusion on their own using just the “claims and evidence” and the discussion that we have had.
Assessing Students Understanding
Second Day:
To assess the students and know that they truly understand what it is that we have gone over they will have to write a conclusion in their notebooks. They will have to use their claims and evidence section to write this conclusion.
Student Resources
(moon phase clip)
- I chose this video because of the visual representations
Cautions
At the very beginning of the experiment the rules of using the balls must be laid down.
1. No throwing the balls
2. Only use the balls for the experiment
3. No writing on the equipment
4. Leave all the equipment in the middle of the table at the end of the period.
These rules must be followed very strictly so that the students realize the balls are lab equipment not toys.
Challenges in Carrying out the Investigation
There shouldn’t be any challenges in carrying out this investigation as long as at the points where student may get stuck I use the questions I thought about to prompt and help them along.
Rationale:
I felt like this is a good way to teach the moon phases this way because students have a strong base of misconceptions about this subject. By having the students carry out this experiment and see that the Moon always has a lit side and that it can't always orbit directly around on the same path because their isn't an eclipse every month. Having the students discover these things by seeing it from their own work will break those misconceptions much easier and cement the new correct material in there. If I did this lesson as a demonstration the students just wouldn't see it the same as if they were doing it on their own.
Grade Level: 8th Grade General Science
Lesson Overview:
In this lesson the students will use a flash light and two different size Styrofoam balls to figure why the moon has different phases. They will use their scientific notebooks to keep observations and data. They will write a focus question, hypothesis, observations and data, claims and evidence, and a conclusion using the claims and evidence. They will use the flash light as a light source that stays in the same place they will then move the smaller ball around the bigger ball and observe how the amount of light on the small ball changes. They will then pick a spot on the big ball and see from that spot how much of the lit small ball a person could see if the big ball was the earth and they were standing in that spot. From these two observations they will write their claims and evidence.
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Performances:
As a result of this lesson students will be able to:
- Identify the phases of the Moon.
- Analyze the orbit of the moon to comprehend why phases occur.
- Explain why they occur.
They will do this by applying their knowledge of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth and the Earth around the Sun. They will synthesize a model which they will analyze to comprehend the idea of Moon movement and Moon phases. It requires high levels of thinking.
Standards:
ESS2 (7-8) -8 Students demonstrate an understanding of temporal or positional relationships between or among the Earth, sun, and moon by …
8c using a model of the Earth, sun and moon to recreate the phases of the moon.
Students Prior Knowledge:
The students will need a basic idea of the relationship of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. They will need to know how the Earth and Moon rotate. They will also have to have a good idea of the orbits of the planet and it’s satellite.
Establishing Purpose:
The purpose of this lab is for the students to truly understand the reason we have phases of the moon and it helps students to visulize and prove that the planets movement does have a profound effect on things. This is also a good lesson to lead into seasons and the movement of the earth.
Materials Needed:
- Flashlight
- 5 Large Styrofoam Balls about the size of a basketball
- 5 Small Styrofoam Balls about the size of a golf ball
- Scientific Notebook
- Stickers
- Some pictures of the moon to use for reference
Time Required
2 - 50 Minute Period
Instructional Sequence
- Introduction (First day)
- To begin this lesson I will ask the students to think about what the moon looks like at night and ask them why it changes. From this they will write a focus question and we will talk about what a good focus question might be for this type of experiment. After this in their groups they will have to come up with a hypothesis for the reason why we have phases of the moon. We will go around the room and share every group’s hypothesis and then I will give every group one large ball, one small ball, a flashlight and a sticker. I will tell that we today that they will have to use they objects I have given them to come up with a model that represents the Moon moving around the Earth. I will also tell them that in their groups they should be discussing the different ways to hold the balls and light to show the different phases. I will emphasize that scientists use the method of trial and error to try and figure out the best explanation for phenomena.
- Instructional Activities (First day)- I will give them a starting off point of using the balls for the planets and the flashlight for the sun but from there out they must figure out how to use these things to find out the reasons for the phases of the moon. I will give them a handout to write down there groups step by step process of how they did it. During this time they will also be given a sheet to paste into their notebooks to record any observations that they find to be interesting. During the experiment I will walk around the room and help to uncover any ideas I think is important that the students may not be getting. I will also pose questions during the experiment that I feel will help to move their work in the right direction. I will ask them if you use the sticker to represent a spot on the earth, what does the moon look like from that spot as its orbits around the earth. During the lesson about orbits I will touch on eclipses and what they are. During this lab the students will have to use this knowledge to figure out the moon’s orbit moves. This will be one place where I may prompt them in a certain direction. I will ask them “Since we know that we don’t have a lunar eclipse every month how does this affect our experiment?” All these questions are questions I will wait to use until the students have had time to try and make these observations on their own. I will only intervene with these if they are struggling to make the connections.
- Conclusion- First Day - To conclude on the first day this experiment we will write “claims and evidence”. This way I can make sure the students have gotten the answers I want them to get and know the students have the information in their notebooks.
- Second Day – We will go over the “claims and evidence” we came up with the day before. I will take this second day to make sure they fully understand all the information that we have collected. I will show them a short clip on the phases of the moon and we will discuss further. Along with the discussion of what they found from their experiments we will talk about how they found this. The students will be asked to explain how they held the light and the balls and from what point on the Earth they were looking. After this they will be asked to write a conclusion on their own using just the “claims and evidence” and the discussion that we have had.
Assessing Students UnderstandingSecond Day:
To assess the students and know that they truly understand what it is that we have gone over they will have to write a conclusion in their notebooks. They will have to use their claims and evidence section to write this conclusion.
Student Resources
(moon phase clip)
- I chose this video because of the visual representations
Cautions
At the very beginning of the experiment the rules of using the balls must be laid down.
1. No throwing the balls
2. Only use the balls for the experiment
3. No writing on the equipment
4. Leave all the equipment in the middle of the table at the end of the period.
These rules must be followed very strictly so that the students realize the balls are lab equipment not toys.
Challenges in Carrying out the Investigation
There shouldn’t be any challenges in carrying out this investigation as long as at the points where student may get stuck I use the questions I thought about to prompt and help them along.
Rationale:
I felt like this is a good way to teach the moon phases this way because students have a strong base of misconceptions about this subject. By having the students carry out this experiment and see that the Moon always has a lit side and that it can't always orbit directly around on the same path because their isn't an eclipse every month. Having the students discover these things by seeing it from their own work will break those misconceptions much easier and cement the new correct material in there. If I did this lesson as a demonstration the students just wouldn't see it the same as if they were doing it on their own.